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Kenta Maeda

Starting Pitching Notes: Maeda, Angels, A’s

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The Red Sox will not submit a bid to negotiate with Japanese right-hander Kenta Maeda, a source tells WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford. While Maeda at one point looked like a possibly intriguing target for Boston, the team has plenty of mid-rotation options beyond ace David Price and probably won’t seek to add another, Bradford writes. Earlier Tuesday night, Giants GM Bobby Evans told MLBTR’s Zach Links that his team is having internal discussions about Maeda, though John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle hears that a match between the two sides is “unlikely.” Here are more notes on the starting pitching market.

  • The Athletics are hunting for a “No. 2” type of pitcher, Joe Stiglich of Comcast SportsNet California tweets. Manager Bob Melvin says the team is looking at veterans to fill that role. The A’s have recently been connected to free agent and former Athletic Scott Kazmir, who would certainly fill the bill as a veteran No. 2 starter.
  • The Angels are willing to trade not only C.J. Wilson (as was reported Monday), but also Hector Santiago and Matt Shoemaker, MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan tweets. Of the three, Santiago has attracted the most attention, Sullivan’s colleague Alden Gonzalez tweets. Teams want the Angels to eat at least $15MM of the remaining $20MM on Wilson’s contract, which Gonzalez suggests is “too much.” Santiago, though, is effective as well as relatively young and cheap — MLBTR projects he’ll make $5.1MM next season, a very reasonable sum for a pitcher who threw 180 2/3 innings with a 3.59 ERA in 2015. One might think Shoemaker would also be an attractive target — his ERA last season was a run higher than Santiago’s, but his peripherals (7.7 K/9, 2.3 BB/9) were solid, and he’ll be making the league minimum again next season.

Charlie Wilmoth contributed to this post.

 

NL Central Notes: Chapman, Cubs, Pirates

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The domestic violence allegations against closer Aroldis Chapman will likely make it very difficult for the Reds to trade him, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale writes. Police records indicate that, in late October, Chapman allegedly choked his girlfriend, shoved her against a wall and fired eight gunshots in his garage. The allegations appear to have derailed the Reds’ trade of Chapman to the Dodgers. “I know we can’t touch him. Our owner would never go for that. And I’m getting the sense from other teams that they feel the same way,” one NL executive says. “Yeah, we know talent can cover up some character flaws, but domestic violence is such a hot topic now.” Spurred by cases involving Ray Rice and others in the NFL, domestic violence has become a high-profile issue in sports, and a team trading for Chapman would likely now be opening itself to a barrage of criticism. It doesn’t look like MLB’s investigation into Chapman’s situation will be resolved quickly, either. Nightengale notes that Chapman’s situation could lead to changes in the way MLB teams announce player acquisitions, potentially including language about completing background checks as well as physicals. Here are more notes from the NL Central.

  • The Cubs have maintained steady contact with Jason Heyward’s representation, FOX Sports’ Jon Morosi tweets. It’s uncertain, however, whether they’ll continue to have interest after agreeing to terms with Ben Zobrist. Heyward has lately been connected to the Giants, Angels and Cardinals.
  • One possibility for the Cardinals if they can’t re-sign Heyward is to sign Alex Gordon for less, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports suggests (Twitter links). With the savings, they could then pursue NPB starter Kenta Maeda. Gordon could play right field in 2016, then move to left if the Cardinals decline Matt Holliday’s option for the following season.
  • The Pirates are interested in re-signing Sean Rodriguez, Travis Sawchik of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review tweets. Rodriguez batted a modest .246/.281/.362 with the Bucs in 2015 but helped with his versatility, playing competent defense while splitting his time between first and the corner outfield positions (and also occasionally helping elsewhere in the infield).
  • The Bucs are exploring a variety of possibilities at first base, writes MLB.com’s Adam Berry. Specifically, Berry writes that the Pirates have expressed interest in Mike Napoli, although the right-handed Napoli seems like a slightly awkward fit given the presence of the right-handed Michael Morse on the Bucs’ roster. After non-tendering Pedro Alvarez, the Pirates are looking for a new first baseman to form a bridge to top prospect Josh Bell.

Giants GM Bobby Evans On Fowler, Maeda, Soria

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After missing out on their top pitching target this winter, the Giants knew that they had to act fast in order to shore up their rotation.  When Diamondbacks acted completely sub rosa and shocked the world by landing Zack Greinke, the Giants quickly pivoted to Jeff Samardzija, giving him a five-year, $90MM deal.  Even though the deal carries an average annual value of $18MM, Giants GM Bobby Evans tells MLB Trade Rumors that there’s still potentially enough in the coffers to make another impact signing at a similar level.

“There’s flexibility, yes,” Evans told MLBTR. “I think [last year] we didn’t go as far on multi-year deals and we did shorter term deals.  It does give you some flexibility this time around.”

Right now, Evans is looking to allocate some of those funds towards the left field position.  The Giants GM indicated that he has talked with reps for Dexter Fowler and Gerardo Parra this week, but, he also went on to say that he has been in touch with “almost everyone on the outfield market.”  The idea of flexibility goes beyond payroll for Evans as the Giants refuse to lock in on a limited group of left field candidates.

While left field is a priority for Evans, the bullpen is admittedly “on the back burner.”  The Giants were long connected to veteran reliever Joakim Soria, but Evans explained that he was not especially desperate to sign him because of his confidence in the current ’pen and the minor league depth backing it up.  Without taking anything away from Soria, who signed for $25MM over three seasons, Evans explained that it was “too early” in the offseason for the Giants to allocate money towards relievers.  In other words, Evans & Co. have bigger fish to fry before they get to fortifying the late innings.

As it turns out, that big fish could be a Carp.  Evans confirmed that the club is having internal discussions about Japanese star Kenta Maeda, who was formally posted on Tuesday.  Factoring in the expected $20MM posting fee that it will take to have an audience with the right-hander, the total outlay for him could be $80MM or more.  Suffice it to say, a flirtation with Maeda while also adequately filling the left field vacancy could really test the limits of the Giants’ budget.

Pitching Notes: Rangers, Giants, Maeda, Chapman, Stammen, Jays, Pirates, Okajima

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It appears the Rangers are at least looking into an impactful pitching addition. MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan says (Twitter links) that the club has pursued Jose Fernandez, Shelby Miller, and Drew Smyly on the trade market, but “couldn’t make headway” on any of those players. The club is, however, holding a line of dialogue with the Indians on their rotation arms. Meanwhile, Texas has “neither funds nor interest level” to take a run at Japanese righty Kenta Maeda, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports on Twitter.

Here’s more on the pitching market:

  • The Giants have some interest in Maeda, skipper Bruce Bochy told reporters including John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter link). And the team has scouted him previously in Japan, colleague Henry Schulman adds on Twitter. Of course, Bochy also added that the club expects Maeda to draw wide interest, and didn’t make clear just how strong of a draw he represents.
  • With uncertainty abounding, the Dodgers are holding internal discussions on what to do about the team’s prospective trade for Reds lefty Aroldis Chapman, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports via Twitter. It’s possible that the club could “pivot” to some other acquisition targets or that it might allow the situation to play out before committing in either direction, he adds.
  • Recently non-tendered righty Craig Stammen is “100% recovered” from his arm surgery, a source tells MLBTR’s Zach Links (via) Twitter. Stammen, a stalwart of the Nationals pen for several years, was non-tendered recently. He’ll be entering his age-32 season after producing a 2.88 ERA with 8.2 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9 in 246 2/3 innings over 2012-15.
  • The Blue Jays are considering an array of options as they look at pen additions, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca tweets. Toronto is considering everything from the best remaining free agent relievers to “bounce-back types,” he says.
  • While a lefty reliever isn’t the Pirates’ top priority, the team has reached to free agent Matt Thornton, Stephen Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports on Twitter.
  • The Pirates have shown interest in free agenty righty Kyle Kendrick, Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports (via Twitter). Kendrick struggled last year for the Rockies, but he’s still just 31 years old and has had success at times in a swingman capacity. Travis Sawchik of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review broke down the Bucs’ efforts to find starters in a piece yesterday.
  • Japanese reliever Hideki Okajima is eyeing a return to the majors for his age-40 campaign, Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com tweets. The long-time Red Sox southpaw last appeared in the bigs in 2013 with the Athletics and has played in Japan for the last two years.

Japan’s Hiroshima Carp To Post Kenta Maeda

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DECEMBER 10: Maeda’s posting process will actually begin tomorrow, December 10, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets.

DECEMBER 8: Maeda will formally be posted today, Jayson Stark of ESPN.com tweets.

DECEMBER 3: The Hiroshima Carp will post ace right-hander Kenta Maeda for Major League clubs to bid on this winter, according to a report from Yahoo Japan (Japanese link, h/t: Jason Coskrey of the Japan Times, on Twitter). Maeda had asked his club to post him a little more than a week ago.

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Baseball America’s Ben Badler tweets that he believes the Carp will set the release fee for Maeda at the maximum $20MM, meaning interested teams will have to pay that amount in order to secure the right to bid for Maeda’s services.

If the release fee is indeed set at $20MM — and that does seem likely, given Maeda’s profile — every team in baseball will have the opportunity to bid that amount. Maeda and his agents will then be free to negotiate with each club that met the release fee, ultimately taking whatever offer is most to the pitcher’s liking. Teams that bid but fail to sign Maeda will have their fee returned, whereas the $20MM bid from the team that ultimately signs Maeda will go to the Carp as compensation for the loss.

Maeda, 28 in April, is widely considered to be one of the best pitchers in Japan. He just wrapped up a season in which he pitched to a 2.09 ERA with 7.6 K/9 against 1.8 BB/9 across 206 1/3 innings, marking his sixth consecutive season with an earned run average of 2.60 or better. His excellent 2015 season netted Maeda his second Sawamura Award — Japan’s equivalent to the Cy Young Award. With his relative youth, dominant track record and, of course, lack of draft pick compensation, Maeda immediately becomes one of the more intriguing arms on the free-agent market.

A recent scouting report from Badler (a subscription is required but highly recommended to read many of Badler’s scouting reports on international players), gave a refresher on much of what is already known of Maeda but also revealed that in the recent Premier 12 international tournament, Maeda displayed a vastly improved changeup that looked to be a plus pitch. Badler notes that Maeda’s fastball sits 89-93 and can hit 94 at times, with an above-average slider as his typically favored secondary offering.

As Badler notes, most scouts feel that Maeda is at least a No. 4 starter in the Majors, though the potential is obviously there for him to exceed that label. Recall that many were reluctant to label Masahiro Tanaka an ace in the making when he was posted (although, as Badler points out, Tanaka’s raw stuff is simply more overpowering than Maeda’s arsenal). Nevertheless, the addition of a plus changeup to Maeda’s arsenal would further entice clubs seeking high-end pitching, and if a team believes a fourth starter to be the floor for the right-hander, one can imagine a hefty price tag being placed upon him. Said one scout to Badler: “I didn’t think his slider was very good that day (against Mexico), but his changeup was nasty. He was throwing it to righthanders and lefthanders. To me, that was his best pitch.”

Maeda figures to attract interest from a wide number of clubs — both teams that are aiming to contend in 2016 and possibly some rebuilding/retooling clubs that are eyeing 2017 and beyond. Because he’ll pitch next season at 28, Maeda is younger than most free agent starters and therefore doesn’t necessarily carry the risk that he’ll be in decline by the time a rebuilding or transitional club flips the page to contention.

One team that is known to have strong interest in Maeda is the Diamondbacks. General manager Dave Stewart wasn’t shy whatsoever when asked about the player last winter, candidly stating: “I love Maeda. I love him. We have a lot of video and film and we have people who have seen him. We think that he’s got a chance to be very successful in Major League Baseball. We’re going to try to be in on the market when he does post, if he does post.” Maeda, of course, was not posted last season, but Stewart recently said that the D-backs have maintained their interest. That they’re said to be in search of pitching help that does not require draft pick forfeiture only strengthens the likelihood that they’ll make a push for Maeda, although, as I noted before, many teams will be in the mix. Given the fact that there’s little risk in actually posting the $20MM release fee (which, again, is refunded if a team doesn’t sign Maeda), it’d make sense for half the league (or more) to at least meet the fee just to see the asking price.

We at MLBTR ranked Maeda 14th in terms of earning power on our Top 50 free agent list and estimated a five-year, $60MM contract on top of a $20MM posting fee. While the comfort level of interested teams of course remains to be seen, it should be noted that the bulk of pitchers available on this year’s open market doesn’t seem to have hampered earning power for pitchers thus far in the offseason — even those among the second and third tiers of arms. For instance, Johnny Cueto has reportedly rejected a six-year, $120MM offer already, while Jeff Samardzija is said to have offers in the $90-100MM range. And, J.A. Happ has already landed an impressive three-year, $36MM contract. Given that expenditure and the rumored price tags on other arms, it appears (on the surface, at least) that Maeda is well-positioned to secure a substantial contract as he looks to jump to Major League Baseball.

It should also be wondered if, in addition to a sizable guarantee, he’ll be in line for an opt-out clause. Tanaka received such a clause when signing his contract with the Yankees, as did outfielder Yasmany Tomas in signing his six-year contract with the Diamondbacks. An opt-out after two or three years would allow Maeda the opportunity to establish himself in the Majors and re-enter the market with a big league track record, although an opt-out would probably come with a trade-off in terms of total guarantee (Tanaka’s enormous contract notwithstanding).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

NL West Notes: Padres, Leake, D’Backs, Maeda, Giants

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The Padres are drawing “significant interest” in starters Tyson Ross, Andrew Cashner, and James Shields, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports on Twitter. But MLB.com’s Corey Brock tweets that his sense is San Diego “would be very, very reluctant about moving” Ross, who is the team’s most valuable trade asset.

Here’s the latest from the NL West:

  • The fact that the Padres have acquired infield depth in their system won’t stop the team from pursuing a shortstop at the major league level, GM A.J. Preller told reporters including Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune (via Twitter).
  • Free agent Mike Leake would prefer to play out west, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports notes (Twitter links). In fact, the former Arizona State star would “take less” to go to the Diamondbacks, per Rosenthal. That being said, as has previously been reported, the D’Backs appear to be looking at finishing their rotation out on the trade market rather than double-dipping in free agency.
  • Diamondbacks GM Dave Stewart explained today that there’s a “big hesitation” to the idea of trading away center fielder A.J. Pollock, as Steve Gilbert of MLB.com reports (links to Twitter). Arizona doesn’t feel compelled to add another rotation piece, Stewart added. And while there is still some flexibility in the team’s finances even after adding Zack Greinke, he indicated that there will be a need for caution in taking on additional salary commitments.
  • Whether or not the Diamondbacks add another starter, it won’t be Japanese hurler Kenta Maeda, Jack Magruder of FanRag Sports reports on Twitter. The club has long been noted as a possible suitor for Maeda, but the club was apparently not convinced he’d be more than a back-of-the-rotation starter in the majors and was deterred by a $60MM asking price.
  • While the Giants continue to pursue Leake, the club is also “looking at” the upper reaches of the outfield market, according to John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter). In addition to the premium bats available, says Shea, San Francisco is considering players like Dexter Fowler and Gerardo Parra. Certainly, it seems that the club is strongly considering a significant outfield addition via free agency.
  • Rockies GM Jeff Bridich said today that he’s received significant interest in the team’s position players as he meets with clubs to explore starting pitching additions, as Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post reports. Bridich didn’t go into any details, but said he’s hopeful that the team “can come to a resolution on a few things soon.”

Kenta Maeda Joins Wasserman Media Group

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Right-hander Kenta Maeda has hired Adam Katz of the Wasserman Media Group (WMG) to represent him in talks with MLB teams, ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick reports.  Maeda will soon be posted by the Hiroshima Carp and free to negotiate with any Major League club who meets the $20MM posting fee.

MLBTR ranked Maeda 14th on our list of the top 50 free agents in terms of earning power, predicting he would land a five-year, $60MM contract (on top of the $20MM posting fee his chosen team would pay Hiroshima).  Given how so many top pitchers have already been signed to higher-than-expected prices, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Maeda’s eventual contract exceed our prediction by a healthy margin.  Maeda was already expected to draw a healthy amount of interest, and the rapidly-thinning number of free agent aces will only intensify his market.

Maeda joins such stars as Giancarlo Stanton, Nolan Arenado, Yasiel Puig, Hanley Ramirez, Kendrys Morales and Jeff Samardzija in the WMG fold, to name just a few of the dozens of players represented by the agency.  The client list also contains some very prominent Japanese talents, including Hisashi Iwakuma and Hideki Matsui.

For information on more than 2,000 Major League and minor league players, check out MLBTR’s Agency Database. If you see any notable omissions or errors, please let us know via email: mlbtrdatabase@gmail.com.

Starting Pitching Notes: Leake, Iwakuma, Maeda, Chen, Marlins

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The red-hot free agent pitching market will only help the Indians in trade talks, Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes.  With so many top starters commanding giant salaries, the Tribe’s collection of young arms becomes more attractive both to teams who are hesitant to overspend on pitching, or to teams who missed out on their free agent targets.  President of baseball operations Chris Antonetti could be making a career-defining move, Pluto believes, if he chooses to deal one of Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Danny Salazar or Trevor Bauer for a big bat since such a trade could put the Tribe over the top as contenders.

Here’s more from the ever-shifting pitching rumor mill…

  • The Giants are still interested in Mike Leake, ESPN’s Buster Olney tweets, even after signing Jeff Samardzija.  Leake’s market is “now more defined” with so many other top pitchers off the board.  The Giants may not be willing to give Leake a Samardzija-esque deal, however, as reported by Andrew Baggarly of the Bay Area News Group (via Twitter).  This could take them out of the running for Leake given how several other teams also have interest.
  • Also from Olney, the Royals are in the mix for starting pitching.  Chris Young has been the only starter directly tied to Kansas City in reports, though there has been speculation that the World Series champs could aim higher in their search for rotation help.
  • The Dodgers and Giants both fell short in their search for Zack Greinke, but MLB Network’s Peter Gammons wonders if the two arch-rivals could compete again for Hisashi Iwakuma.  Both teams have already shown interest in the Japanese righty, and while the Mariners also have a long-stated interest in re-signing Iwakuma, I would guess the presence of these two big-market teams could drive Iwakuma’s price out of Seattle’s comfort zone.
  • There has been speculation in the Japanese media that Kenta Maeda would prefer to pitch for the Dodgers, according to NPBTracker’s Patrick Newman (Twitter link).  The Dodgers have a long history with Japanese talent and they have a need in the rotation, so a connection makes sense.  L.A. will get a chance to negotiate with Maeda if they’re one of the teams who posts a $20MM bid for his services.
  • Wei-Yin Chen has become a “hot topic” for the Cubs, 670TheScore.com’s Bruce Levine tweets.  Chen is another free agent whose market should benefit from other pitchers disappearing off the market.  Chicago, for instance, had interest in Price, Zimmermann and Samardzija before all of those pitchers signed elsewhere, though the Cubs already made one rotation-bolstering move in signing John Lackey.
  • The Marlins are exploring a wide range of pitching options as they head to the Winter Meetings, president of baseball operations Michael Hill tells MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro writes.  Frisaro suggests that James Shields or Wade Miley could be trade targets since Miami has been interested in both pitchers in the past, though the Marlins are trying to hang onto their core position players in deals (presumably trade candidate Marcell Ozuna isn’t necessarily part of this equation).
  • The Marlins are open to the possibility of signing Cliff Lee, Frisaro reports.  Presumably Miami would be one of several clubs interested in seeing if the former Cy Young Award winner has anything left in his comeback attempt.
  • The Astros could look to deal 26-year-old lefty Brett Oberholtzer, CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman reports (via Twitter).  Oberholtzer has a 3.94 ERA, 2.86 K/BB rate and 5.9 K/9 over 253 2/3 career innings, all with Houston since 2013.  He’s one of many young arms the Astros have on hand beyond the five-man rotation, and the southpaw could be expendable if Houston is satisfied with its other depth options.  Heyman speculates that the Orioles, Phillies, Rangers and Reds could all be fits as trade partners.
  • The Twins aren’t one of the reported 10 teams interested in Henderson Alvarez, 1500ESPN.com’s Darren Wolfson tweets.

AL East Notes: Price, Happ, Davis, Maeda

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The Blue Jays’ signing of lefty J.A. Happ strongly suggests that David Price won’t be returning to Toronto next year, Jon Morosi of FOX Sports writes. Price’s acquisition was emblematic of the go-for-broke approach former GM Alex Anthopoulos took, and it isn’t like new team president Mark Shapiro to make similarly dramatic, risky moves. Instead, Shapiro and interim GM Tony LaCava have addressed the Jays’ rotation needs more quietly, with the signing of Happ, the re-signing of Marco Estrada and their trade for Jesse Chavez. “We obviously had multiple holes to fill in our pitching staff, and our front-office team felt diversifying the risk among multiple pitchers who could start was important, both due to our need at the (big-league) level and our lack of Triple-A depth starting pitchers,” Shapiro says. Here’s more from the AL East.

  • Happ wasn’t the same pitcher he was in Pittsburgh as he had been previously, Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet.ca writes. He allowed fewer walks, his velocity increased, and he leaned harder on his fastball, leading to a brilliant 1.85 ERA in 11 starts. The Blue Jays, then, will have to see if the adjustments Happ made in Pittsburgh can continue to help him.
  • No one involved with sports negotiations likes the phrase “hometown discount,” but if Chris Davis is to return to the Orioles, he’ll have to give them that discount, Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun writes. The Orioles believe they can make Davis a competitive offer, just not one quite as large as he might be able to get elsewhere. They can hope that such a competitive offer might be enough to lure Davis, a beloved player in Baltimore and a good fit at Camden Yards, to return. Davis’ agent Scott Boras might have something to say about that, of course, but as Connolly notes, the choice will ultimately be Davis’.
  • Japanese righty Kenta Maeda could be one possibility for the Red Sox this offseason, Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald writes. Maeda recently asked his NPB team, the Hiroshima Carp, to post him. With the Tigers, new Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski wasn’t usually a top bidder for the best talents from abroad. The Sox, however, have signed top foreign players like Yoan Moncada, Rusney Castillo and Daisuke Matsuzaka, so perhaps they’ll be contenders for Maeda as well. Maeda could represent a lower-priced alternative to top free agents like Price and Zack Greinke.

Kenta Maeda Asks To Be Posted

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Japanese hurler Kenta Maeda has requested that his Japanese club, the Hiroshima Carp, make him available to major league organizations through the posting process, as Yasuko Yanagita of Hochi Shimbun first reported on Twitter.

Maeda spun 206 1/3 innings of 2.09 ERA pitching last year. While he’s not a huge strikeout pitcher — he’s never topped 8.1 K/9 over a single season — Maeda is no slouch in that department. And he features impeccable control, with an excellent 1.9 BB/9 walk rate for his career.

It remains to be seen whether the NPB organization will make the highly-regarded right-hander available, as Kyodo News reports (paywall link, h/t to MLB.com’s Joey Nowak). Hiroshima’s general manager Kiyoaki Suzuki said that Maeda’s “request might be granted,” indicating that he’d likely “decide on a course of action around the end of next week.”

If the Carp follow the wishes of their staff ace, the rules provide that the posting team must set a release fee of no more than $20MM. Any team willing to meet that price is permitted to negotiate with the player in an attempt to work out a contract within a thirty day window from the date of posting. The release fee is only due if a deal is struck.

The 27-year-old Maeda figures to take up a prominent place in the winter’s starting pitching market if he is made available. With Yu Darvish and Masahiro Tanaka serving as recent examples of the ability of top Japanese starters to transition to the big leagues, there should be no shortage of interest.

It would be surprising if Hiroshima sets the release fee at anything short of the $20MM maximum. MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes ranked Maeda 14th on his list of the top fifty free agents, predicting that the Japanese star would command a total commitment (including the fee) of five years and $80MM — putting him right alongside quality MLB starters such as Jeff Samardzija, Mike Leake, and Wei-Yin Chen in expected earning power.

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